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Fairy Tale Insight

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Through the stories told, and their variations, readers are allowed aglimpse into the interactions between parents and children, and parents'motivation for specific actions in regards to their children. Tatar explains that "the desire for wealth motivates parents to turn theirdaughters over to a beast points to the possibility that these talesmirror social practices of another age" (1999, p. 27).

It seems that the story of "Beauty and the Beast" was used as a means, an outlet for those women stuck in an arranged marriage, seeing theirhusbands metaphorically as "beasts." These stories, especially thosethat involve parents trying to convince--even to the point ofbegging--people to marry their children, shows how preoccupied these parents were either with bride-price, or giving into the whims of theirchildren.

Tatar discusses the de Beaumont version of "Beauty and the Beast"specifically, stating that "Beauty and the Beast not only endorses the importance of obedience and self-denial, but also uses the tale topreach the transformative power of love..." (1999, p. 27). Thisstatement caught my attention because of the idea that loving someonedespite their faults causes them to appear better in one's eyes, transforming them into the kind of person that they "should" be. Interms of the story, this transformation is a physical one, where theprinces shed their monstrous skin and become the handsome prince that they believe the princess deserves, suggesting that beauty is directlyassociated with people of solid ethics and morals.

I think the animated film Shrek, which reverses the archetype, isan equally interesting take on "the transformative power of love" (Tatar, 1999, p. 27). This physically altering power changes bothcharacters into the ogre, the character often portrayed in anantagonistic role. It is the goal of Shrek to take the archetype,the formula everyone knows, and turn it on its head. Even the characters are aware of the archetype--see Princess Fiona's surprise when theresult of her "true love's kiss" does not transform him into thehandsome prince, but transforms her into the monster as well.